Electric snap-switch.



NOQ 862,670. PATENTED JULY 7, 1908. W. s. MAYER.

ELECTRIC SNAP SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2. 1907.

inventor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAYER ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

' ELECTRIC SNAP-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 7, 1908.

2 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER S. MAYER, a citizen of the United States, residin in the city and county of Philadlphia,- tate of Pennsylvania, have invented-certain new and .useful mprovements in "Electric Sn Switches, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to an improvement in electric snap switches, and it has for its object to provide a switch of this character combining efficiency and simplicity.

My invention resides in the combination a and arrangement of parts as hereinafter desame; Fig

. royided with a centr 8' thro scribed in detail, set forth in the claims, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a switch em bod my invention, with the cover and switch utton shown in Fig; 3 removed; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fi 1, certain ortions of the device being s own in side e evation; Fig, 3 is a view at right angles to theline on which Fig. 2 is taken; Fig. 4 is atop plan view showing certain details of construction, certain ortions of the switch being broken away; 1g. 5 is a side elevation of the portion of the switch shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an edge view of one of the contact brushes; Fig. 7 is a to plan view of the 8 is-a side e evation looking towards the bottom a top lan 'view o a stop plate; and Fig. 10 is an e ge view of the same.

In the drawings,1 designates ,the base portion of an electric snap switch, which portion of any suitable insulating material, as,

for instance, porcelain. The centralportion of this base is-provided with a depression in which is located a sto plate 2, which is of metal and is rectangular in general outline. At each of thecorners, portions of the plate are cut away so as to formseats 3, the said seats being shghtly inclined, as indicated, so that they are deeper at their outer ends than at their inner ends. 4 designates shoulders, one of which is located at one end of each of the said seats,a.nd 5 designates inclined or beveled edgesleadin from the shoulders to the late 2..., The'plate is perforation or open- 7 h which one end of a t 9 is, projected, zhe said shaftbeingalso projected adjacent edges 0 the of the drawings.

ortion of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is opening 40.

through aperforation or opening 10in the bottom of the insulating base portion 1. 15 deslgnates a nut having screw-threaded enga e -ment with the lower end of the shaft 9 and y means of which the said shaft is secured in position to the said base portion 1.

20 designates a trigger or shifter (consisting, in the'construction shown,-0f a plate) which is pivotally secured at 21 to a plate 22.

The latter plate 18 secured to a plate 23 having projectlng contact arms 24. The plage s 22 and 23 are insulated from each 0 her means bf the insulating blocks 25 nd 2d. The plates 22 and 23 are mounted n on and adapted to\rotate about the'shaft 9. The shifter 20 is provided with a laterall extending stop projection 30, which is a a ted to engage and rest upon the seats 3 of t e stop plate 2. The said shifter is also provided with a rojection 31 located adjacent to the point 0 itspivotal connection to the plate 22, as particularly. indicated in Figs. 1 and 4 The said projection 31 is adapted to be engaged by one end of a spring 35 which is coiled around the shaft 9, the other end of the said spring being in engagement with a collar orv plate 36, rigidly se' cured to the said shaft 9.

38 designates a switch button connected to the upper or outer end of the shaft 9. The shifter 20 is provided with an eccentric 41 designates a lever which is ri dly connected to the shaft 9, the end of whli is adapted to contact with the shifter 20 at a point within the said eccentric opening 40.

In order to prevent rotation 1n one direction of the said lever 4L and the shaft connected thereto with res ect t0 the said shifter 20, I have provi ed a shoulder 42 upon the said shifter with which one side of the lever 41 is normally in e agement.

.When the shaft is. turned in the direction which the hands of a watch travel by any means, as, for instance, the switch button 38, the lever 41 engages with the shifter 20 so as to move the same outwardly in the same direction upon its ivot 21, thus occasioning movement of the ateral stop projection 30 out of engagement with any one o the seats 3 within which it happens to be seated.

Movement of the shifter 20 in the direction opposite to that of the hands of a watclusch lever 2 securing t .e brushesin place by connecting or extreme outerends ,l their bridgeportions prevented by reason of the fact that the projection 30 is in contact with a shoulder 4 at one end of a seat 3. The shaft 9 and the lever 41 connected thereto may be regarded and designated as a controller, since it is through these members that the trigger or shifter 20 is disengaged from the seats 3 upon the stop device 2.

lVhen the lateral projection 30 1s moved out of engagement with one of the seats 3, the spring 35, which has been placed under tension by reason of the turning of the said shaft while one end of the said spring, namely, that which is in engagement with the projection 31, is held against movement, occasions a quick movement of the shlfter forward to the next seat which it engages by reason of the fact that in moving to this position, the lever 41 is brought into the same relative position with respect to the shifter 20, as is indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The relative arrangement of the shifter 20 with respect to the several seats 3 u on the stop plate 2 and with respect to the ever 41 is such that the said lever '41 and the shaft 9 are turned or twisted through a distance somewhat greater than 90 so that when the said shifter 20 moves forward into position upon a succeeding seat, the said shaft and lever 41 are rotated short distances rearwardly so as to bring the lever 41 into contact with the shoulder 42. If this were not the case and the lateral stop projection 30 escaped from one of the seats 3 before the lever 41 had traveled over an are greater than 90, the said shifter 20 would be snapped forward by reason of the untwisting of the spring 35 so as to cause the shoulder 42 to strike with'considerable force against the side of the said lever 41.

50 designates the binding posts having central perforations, and which posts are connected to lates 51, which are in turn connected to t -e base portion 1 of the device.

53 designates binding screws by means of which the incoming and outgoing line wires are electrically connected to the binding posts.

55 designates spring contact brushes which may be described as, being of U shape. These brushes are ea'dfi provided 'with openings, as indicated at 56,,the purpose of such openings being to secure a maximum amount of resiliency .and flexibility of the brushes with a minimum amount of metal.

In the construction shown, the binding posts 50 project through the o enings 56. he back portions 57 of the U- aped contact brushes, which portions connect the opposite sides or legs of the said brushes to' gether, are connectedto rojections 58 extending u wardly from tiie plates 51. By

to suitable supports, as is indicated in the flared outwardly, as indicate "between the shifter and adapte drawings, at oints adjacentto or near the outer edge of the base ortionl, I am enabled to employ brushes aving spring plates of relatively great length, but which, however, do not extend'too far in towards .the center of the device, that is, the center of the base portion.

It will be observed that the contact arms 24 extending outwardly from the plate 23 are adapted to ass between the o posite spring ates or egs of the contact rushes and to be engaged upon their op osite sides by the respective sprlng plates. 11 order to insure that the contact arm shall ass in between the said' legs, the ed es t ereof are of the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, I claimr 1. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a stop device provided with seats, a rotatable shaft, a plate loosely mounted upon the said shaft, contact arms rigidly connected-to the said plate, a shifter pivotally connected to the said plate and adapted to engage any one of the seats u on -the said stop device, and thesaid s 'ter having a laterally ated between the the shifter and p ate and the said shaft, a

extending projection situ spring surrounding'the said shaft, one end of t e. sa1d spring being connected to the said shaft and the other end projection, lever connected to the said shaft and aiiapted to move therewith, the. said lever being in engagement with the said shifter and adapted to occasion movement of the said shifter to disengage the same from any one of the said seats.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a base portion or member, a stop device. secured to the said member, contacts sup orted upon the said member, a rotatable shaft extending through the said stop device and connected to the said member, said shaft, contactarms u on the said shaft'and rigidly connected to engaging the said t e said 'plate,said arms being-*ada ted to eni Q i s 115 otally connected to the said plate, the said gage the said contact brushes, a s ter pivshifter being adapted to engage any one of the seats u on the said sto device, and the said shifter aving a latera 1y extending projection situated between the pivotal connection plate and the said shaft,a sprin coiled'aroundth'e said shaft, oneend of w ich is .connectedto the said shaft and the other end of which isin engagement 'with the said projection the said spring occasioning movement of the shifter to engage the said seats, a lever rigidl secured to the said rotatable shaft, Whlch ever 1s in en agement with the said shifter and is to occasion movement of the same at 60 in Fig. 2.

ivotal connection between v 10. a plate loosely mountedupon the I loosely ;mountedabout its pivot to occasion its disengagement from any one of the seats upon the said stop plate.

3. n a device of the character described, thecombination of a controller, contact devices, a shifter operatively connected to the said contact devices, the said shifter bein provided with a shoulder with which the said controller is adapted to contact, and energizing means associated with the said controller and contacting with a portion of the shifter situated between the point of connection between the shifter and the said contact devices and a member of the controller to casion movement thereof around and transversely of the said member of the controller to en age seats 11 on a stop device, and the stop device provic ed with seats, the said stop device being also rovided with shoulders at one end of each 0 the said seats to prevent movement of the shifter in one directlon.

4. In a device of; the character described, the combination of a controller, contact devices associated with the said controller, a shifter operatively connected to the said contact devices, the said shifter being provided with a projection and alsowith a shoulder with which a member of the said controller is adapted to contact to prevent movement in one direction with respect to the said.

shifter, an energizing device connected to the said controller and being in contact with a portion of -the said shifter, the said portion eing situated between the connection between the shifter and the contact devices and the said member of the controller, a stop device having seats adapted to receive the said projection u on the shifter, and the said stop device also iaving shoulders at one end of the said seats against which the said projection is adapted to contact to prevent movement of the said shifter in one direction, and the said seats being respectively inclined so that they are deeper at their outer ends than at their inner ends.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have hereunto signed my name this 26th day of December A. D. 1906.

' WALTER S. MAYER. in the presence of- HARRY F. AMBLER,

LAURA KLEINFELDER. 

